Sunday, October 6, 2013

Winter with a Swedish Accent: We Model Gudrun's 2014 Winter Wear

We recently had the good fortune to be asked to model in Gudrun Sjoden's recent event at her Soho store, heralding her 2014 Winter collection.

We wore two versions of the same wool dress with a wonderful bull's eye motif on the chest. Valerie added the matching cape. (It isn't made to be reversible, but you can do that if you take the tags off, to make for a great contrast.) In keeping with Gudrun style, we added a bit of whimsy to the dresses. We both wore Gudrun's striped leggings (Jean in black and grey and Valerie in blue and black), to which Jean added green and blue striped socks. While Jean wore one of Gudrun's blue and green print cotton scarves as a head wrap, Valerie slung a very colorful pink and red one around her shoulders.

This quartet of models is also wearing Gudrun's fashions. We love the diversity that Gudrun brings to her models. who represent the range of Gudrun customers in age and size. This is also reflected in their catalogue. It's so refreshing to see real people the shopper can identify with!

Aren't these two models lovely? You can see that some of the models had their hair elaborately done up Swedish style, in braids with fresh flowers.

The event ran on Friday, September 20th and Saturday, September 21. On the Friday evening, Gudrun also featured a book signing by author Sofia Hedstrom and photographer Anna Schori of their book "Fashion Manifesto".

We had a great singer to entertain guests on both days.

At one point, all the models were gathered on the island in the center of the store to do a tableau vivant, and give a full impression of the season's line. (We were just about to join the tableau when we took the picture.)

Here's gorgeous and gracious Angelina, who coordinated the event, and invited us to participate. In this photo she's guarding precious street space until the Green Pirate juice truck arrives.

And here's Sarah, who styled the outfits for all the models. Behind her is the poncho that matches Jean's dress. Fabulous styling tip: The three dimensional blue and yellow necklace on the mannequin is actually a scarf that's been stuffed and sectioned off.

As it did on opening night, Green Pirate provided complimentary juices to customers and guests. The green version featured spinach, ginger, celery and lemon while the pink version had beet, lemon and other tasty ingredients we can't remember.

Green Pirate's first mate handed out the freshly made beverages. Jean's favorite was the green juice with the celery and cucumber accents; Valerie's was the dark pink beet-based concoction.

The juices were a big success and were totally in keeping with Gudrun's eco-friendly, healthy approach to life and fashion. Delicious veggies and munchies and prosecco were also being served in the rear of the store.

JR stopped by (and turned out to be totally color coordinated with Jean's outfit). This shot gives you an idea of how welcoming the outside of the shop is. It is in one of the wonderful old Soho cast iron buildings on Greene Street between Broome and Grand Streets.

The Studio V contingent -- Patrick Orcutt, Rike Doepp and her dog Pie, and Nicholas also came by. It almost seems as though Patrick has something to do with just about everything going on in town.

On Saturday, we and many of the models spent a lot of time out front of the shop because the weather was so amazingly fabulous. Luckily, even though many customers were in tank tops and tee shirts, because of the low humidity and nice light breeze, we were all able to wear the winter woolens and not feel too warm. These two models, head to toe in the Gudrun line, are both wearing Gudrun's hilarious high top floral colored eco-friendly rubber-soled, lace-up sneakers, which were a huge hit.

Three young customers.

In the short time she's been here, Gudrun has already attracted a loyal clientele. Here are a few.

We just loved Sari's entire look, including her gorgeous silver locks. She is a loyal fan of Gudrun clothing. (That's a Gudrun dress she's wearing.) Every time we went back into the store, she was trying on a different outfit and each one looked great on her.

We recognized the Gudrun dress on the left - we'd both coveted it when we saw it during the summer. We especially loved that it has pockets. A girl can never be too rich or have too many pockets.

This lady's outfit gives you a good idea of what Gudrun's Spring Summer 2013 line looked like. Later we saw her walking out with multiple black and white print cotton Gudrun bags, so we know she's set for fall.

Angelina's goddaughter picked up this raincoat in wonderful leafy colors. It also comes in shades of red, and New York's favorite black, white and gray.

We love this Gudrun customer's riff on black and white, especially her leggings and toenail polish! She's dressed in the New York uniform, but she's a convert.

And yet another satisfied chic customer leaves with one of Gudrun's colorful, eco-friendly, reusable cotton bags.

When it was all over, we changed into our 'civvies'. Valerie had to commemorate one of Jean's rare forays into color.

Valerie wore Gudrun from a previous season, and mismatched shoes. Kudos to Angelina for hiring someone she knew would be wearing a great big boot.

The weather was so mind-bogglingly marvelous that we had to sit down at an outdoor cafe to celebrate. Who should we run into but Rolly Robinson! Yes, the very same Rolly who patiently took a gazillion pictures of us on the gorgeous red scooter.

Needless to say, we had a blast on both days!

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Instagram alert! We've finally entered the 21st century (just barely)!! When Jean's Samsung phone finally gave up the ghost (after 5+ years of constant use), she finally bit the bullet and got an iPhone. Our pal Rolly Robinson (yes, the very same Rolly!) kindly downloaded the Instagram app to her phone and walked her through the process.

We are now up and running at #idiosyncraticfashionistas and after 134 posts are really getting the hang of it! Do check it out and let us know what you think! The photo below is one of the Instagrams that Jean posted of us from our modeling gig. The photo just above is so old fashioned - taken on a digital camera.

(Valerie also has a new smart phone, but is so far not doing anything particularly smart with it. She has put all that way cool stuff on hold, so to speak. Her phone may be mobile, but Valerie is not, lately focusing all her energy on just hobbling from Point A to Point B. Valerie's advice for anyone considering fracturing their ankle is: naaaah, skip that one. For those who need a reason, more on that in a future post.)

Hi Jean and Val,First, let me say thank you for wearing my helmets in your Bar and Books scooter shoot! Many moons ago I worked at Guardian Life and I hired a tiny ad agency to do some ads for us. The owner of the agency (I cannot remember his name) subsequently started the Bar and Books bar on Hudson Street. One day Richard and I were having a drink there and I was wearing a great hat. The owner came in and said, "Now I can see what you are really like." (Outside of the insurance company that is.)I have wanted to get over to get over to Gudrun. Now you have given me an impetus. Pencil in November 16 and 17 for my open studio. I have a new "Hatshop in a Box!"

Gudrun's clothing line is fun, and looks easy to wear regardless of body shape. You both look very cool in the target print dresses with your own accessories (LOVE the blue furry hat). I really like the green/blue cape too.

Welcome to Instagram! I have an account under fcfashionista, but don't post often, and when I do, it's mostly photos of Fred. I will have to find and follow yours.

It is about time to say 'thank you' from the top of my head for ALL you report on here. I live in California and travel to NYC 2x a year. You two have led me to some amazing places over the years. I'm just sayin'..................Cheers,Leslie

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GROWING OLD WITH VERVE
‘Growing old gracefully’ is an outdated concept. We prefer ‘growing old with verve’. This blog documents our efforts to live up to that motto, in photos and essays. We embrace our gray hair, while sharing the playground nicely with our younger siblings. Bette Davis was right when she said 'growing old is not for sissies', but it’s also not one of Dante’s circles of hell. Idiosyncratic Fashionistas explores what’s out there for Women of a Certain Age, comments on what’s not out there, and demonstrates that our overlooked demographic is still fabulous.
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